Me & My Scopes

I began an interest in astronomy in about 6th grade and got my first small telescope back then which I sat up all night using many times. In 7th grade I built a 4.5" Newtonian reflector with a mount made of 2x4's and pipe fittings and a tube of heating duct. It actually performed quite well and kept me busy for several years. I spent most of my time then observing the planets and logging drawings of them. Then in about 11th grade I stopped using my scope regularily and sort of gave it up.

A few years ago a friend bought a small Meade ETX and we used it one night while camping at Smith Rock State Park on a climbing trip. This got me interested again and ready to buy a telescope for observing and starting in astrophotography. Within a month I had researched telescopes and bought my first decent scope, a Celestron C5+ described below. I have spent as many clear nights as Seattle allows since then hunting Messier objects, observing planets, and starting out in astrophotography.

When I got the C5+ I began on my Messier Hunt as a good intro to deep sky observing with my relatively small scope. I have gained much experience finding objects and have compiled some of my Deep Sky Hints for people with small scopes. I had completed the Messier catalog in 18 months and have been observing and imaging many NGC objects too.  With the C5+  I  gained a lot of experience with photography and CCD imaging. I purchased a Pixcel 255 CCD camera and use it frequently as it ties in my love of computers with astronomy. This web-site is also a mix of these interests. You'll find several hopefully useful applications on the site done in VBScript or JavaScript so that you don't need to download an application, they run right in your web-browser.

My most recent telescope addition is a Meade LX-50 7" Maksutov-Cassegrain which I got primarily for planetary observing though it also is a decent scope for the brighter and bigger deep sky objects.  

I am a member of the Seattle Astronomical Society and the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers.  I have worked as an amateur astronomer with  Project ASTRO for three years at two different schools in the Seattle area. This project is sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the University of Washington Astronomy Department. I am also a member of the local Project ASTRO consortium to help direct the project.  My computer is also busy with Astronomy all the time as part of the SETI@Home project out of Berekely.  

My Telescopes

Celestron C5+  Schmidt-Cassegrain

The first nice scope I purchased was a Celestron C5+ telescope, which got me back into astronomy.

I chose the C5+ because my requirements were:

The C5+ was the only scope that really met these criteria fully, winning over the Meade ETX and over getting a C8 or Meade LX10 which were just too bulky to fit in with the camping gear. Here's a review of the C5+ from the Sky Publications WWW Site.

I'm really happy with the C5+ for my use now. Spending much of my time in backyard observing I find the C5 easy to move around in order to get views around trees, houses, etc... For its small aperture it seems to bring in objects pretty well, especially when paired with a light pollution filter. I have viewed the Little Dumbbell Nebula which is only mag. 11 in my driveway using the C5+, a 35mm eyepiece and an Orion Skyglow filter.

Meade 7" LX-50 Maksutov-Cassegrain

This is my latest scope.  I wanted something geared toward planetary observation and I chose the Meade Mak over a normal SCT because it has a longer focal length and Mak's have always had highly regarded optics.   The LX-50 model was enough for me, the LX-200 seemed overkill since I've gotten very used to manually locating objects.  I plan to use this scope for more detailed observing of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.    So far, I'm very happy with the scope optically.  It had an RA drive problem when I got it but Meade quickly sent me a new RA motor and the scope is working great now.

 

 

 

 

Accessories

For accessories I'm using the following right now: